It’s that time a year again. October is breast cancer awareness month where businesses and everyone and their mom sports pink “eradicate breast cancer” paraphernalia ranging from butter and now perfume. This, as you know, is called pink washing. I would like to know your thoughts on pink washing and Komen’s new perfume.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has partnered with TPR Holdings, LLC, a New York City-based investor and operator in the consumer products industry, to create a perfume called Promise Me. According to the fragrance’s website, the pink-tinted Promise Me is “The Scent of Inspiration.” Its neatly packaged bottles and gift sets, with the all-too-familiar Komen ribbon emblazoned on the side, remind us that it’s not just inspiration Komen and TPR Holdings wants – they want us to shop our way to a cure.

The amount of each perfume purchase dedicated to supporting breast cancer research is paltry (Katie Ford Hall at Uneasy Pink notes that only $1.51 of each bottle will go to research, despite the whopping $59.00 individuals will spend per 3.4 oz bottle of Promise Me Eau de Parfum).